Too soon, Rob. Keep the post, but next time wait. Clearly, the GM has alot of catching up to do.

The format - just so all new people know - is that I let enough things happen that I feel is enough to work on, and then I stop you and intercede with my plottiness. And when I do, oh...good times. Still, this is a transition point. If the new people want to open plot ideas with me, let's talk in PMs all nice and sneaky-like.

"Toady's events have been...fraught. Difficult. Not something I take any joy in recounting. Someone has taken her. Taken Udders. My Udders."

"But first, I must recount the events which led to her abduction, surely by heartless scoundrels or worse. By last entry, Abraham and I had regained our composure, following our narrowly successful forced march to the carrier in the bay. Of course they didn't allow us houseroom, but I'm not fool enough to even hope for such luxuries; nothing on the land, among people, not for one like me.However, Abraham is...different. Though he is surely mad, to what degree I cannot discern yet, he seems to hold no grudge against my animalism, my not being human. Of course, it could all be a ruse, but it could equally be something perhaps more simple. I can speak like one of them, I eat, I drink, I...die...why should I be any different?"

"Something unknowable, at least for now, may compel me to follow him; but perhaps I'm becoming desperate. Desperate for what? My mind is fraught with clouds and mist. I thought about it, once or twice, as I lay starving, gazing into the bay; just to dive into the depths and have done with the whole blasted thing. The water is thick with radiation and other pollutants that would surely doom me to a slow, trickling death and suffering, but for one taste of that freedom...just one..."

"Anyway, Abraham became excited soon after dusk, one day from our arrival. We had sheltered where we could find it, under the concrete awning of some building, they all look the same to me; and he roused me as I tended to Udders' aching muscles with a balm crafted from local secretions. 'It's uh a fine thing that I done lead you here, Tiger' he whispered, 'Just you watch ol' Abe, he gon' get you some uh the best stuff he got, don't you worry heh heh heh'.I didn't have to follow him, but...that frail body can't be left alone, I..."

"With a few hours of crawling over and under and over what seemed to be the same piles of debris and ruin, he lead me onto a small verge, formed around a large pipe, enough for me to enter easily, jutting out into the bay. It wasn't easily visible from this side of the seafront, so I deducted that Abraham must have known it was there; he'd certainly walked somehow differently this time, I don't find it hard to believe that he had no sense of his direction prior to this expedition.'Daddy's come ho-ooome' he sang to himself, in a jovial manner that was all at once grating and amusing. This man has no idea of the world he's in. Thigh deep in mud and sediment, I watched him tease the grate off with his free hand, leaning heavily on his crutch; pausing every so often to pull the thing out of the mud and set itself anew. Udders grazed happily on what she could find while I watched this ridiculous affair. There's no point stopping her eating it now, she...she needs it, and I need her."

"The grate hadn't been fastened; how else could the old fool break the seal with such ease? Clearly this place was somehow his, or he'd at least planned to return. I watched the grate drop into the water - the splash soaked Abraham, but he didn't flinch - and he looked up at me, 'uh, now Fishy, ah don' like askin' fer favours, last time I ast I git stuck out in th' deep woods with a can o' shitty water an' a blunt axe head an' not even a shirt, had to climb e'ry tree t'find mah way, an' ah was there fer thirty day; but some hellion done got away wi' mah leg an'...ah never did get that shot.'So I slunk into the water and made a platform for him to climb upon. I covered Udders in a blanket that we were given by the city-folk that night. Well, they didn't ask for it to be returned anyway...'Stay still, I'll not be a minute' I told her. She's a good girl, my Udders. I led her to the nearest rubble-pile, and she nestled in the odd crevices with my barely suggesting, as I threw over the blanket she mooed in a way that I believed to be mournful...but I didn't think. I didn't think."

"I lifted myself up the the lip of the pipe and the thing whined beneath my weight. I may have starved for days prior, but I can't help my blubber. Abraham was already ranging ahead, deep down into the throat of the beast, his weird clicking step sending dull echoes back to me, 'Daddy's hooome, an' daddy kep' all o his secrets, fireflies is e'rywhere when y'know how t' look'. A few steps into the pipe - the thin layer of trickling water allowed me easy passage on my belly - darkness tore at what little light there was. We had offered my battery lamp as coin for food and water at the carrier, and even if we hadn't I could let him wander down to his death. It's...not dignified to let these things happen."

"But luck, it appears, favoured me in that moment, as in the gloom I spied some device at my flipper. A torch! And it worked! after a few slaps of the thing, like so many things in this world. I immediately grew wary of my fortune however. I'm a scientist, a doctor, but...Karma operates in ways that it's troubling to imagine. Luckily, Abraham hadn't wandered out of sight, and I managed to catch up to his erratic step by pushing myself along the walls of the pipe.It came to my mind that I was swimming in effluent, but something close to fascination pulled me along behind him, like some idle toy. I held the torch in my mouth, and kept it's beam trained on his form as long as I could; at times he disappeared around corners, and terror struck me with the idea that I was lost in what could have been a labyrinth; but he would appear again always, beckoning."

"After a while - it seemed to have been a long while, the darkness ate time alongside light - he halted. Not out of exhaustion or dread, it must be noted, but with a deliberateness that made me uneasy. What a madman considers deliberate, I'm not sure, and it's the uncertainty that scares me. 'Wellm, Tiger, you done stumble 'pon Abe's stash.' He turned to me, the torch lit up his face, and...I had to turn away, something in his eyes. Something...It wasn't good, wasn't right. I heard a cruel and long, shiny sound as he surely drew his knife; he had kept it, we could have got caps for that, the devious, conniving scoundrel. I closed my eyes, expecting my end, but...perhaps I knew what he would do, by now. He slapped me on the back and laughed that dirty, raucous laugh of his that shook the tunnel and made me fear it's collapse under his voice.'Ah! Abe's just shittin' yuh, Fishy, now, you done earn this, an' ah don' give nothin' away, not without a whole bunch o' kickin' n' screamin'' That cold steel glint sounded once more and he shut the thing away, to my relief. I opened my eyes, it seems we had emerged from the pipe and into an altogether wider chamber; rotting timbers lined the walls and the water rose to stain my coat, but still the ravenous darkness chewed at the edges of the torch-beam. Abraham began to claw at one of the walls, carefully standing his crutch against it, and leaning his shoulder against a beam he clawed and bit and ripped at another. I would have aided him but I was mystified by this unexpected behaviour. It strikes me now as odd that I'd consider any action as being outside of his behaviour.""All at once I felt a chill as the water rose. It meant either one of two things, neither of them fortunate (blast that lucky torch!). The chamber was flooding with effluent, and consequently disease. Or something had entered the chamber. Something else, something large."

"I swung the torch clumsily around, trying to find an intruder. To my credit, I found it. Gods, it was vast, the same size as me if not greater. By the glint it gave off in the torchlight, I knew it meant danger of some description, lord it hissed and splashed and spat. I didn't see Abe wheel round and stand before it until he leapt bodily onto the thing, yelping and cursing.The creature, of course, threw him off with ease, and I swear I heard his bones clatter as the hit the wall and sunk into the pool. But he stood. Oh, he stood. His crutch had fallen into the water, and he stood rigid on both legs. Perhaps the implant had finally taken...perhaps not."

"I admit I was catatonic; I mean, I'm...I'm a Walrus that walks and talks like a man, for God's sake, but bones don't knit themselves, not in seconds! Wounds don't heal and ostensibly lame men don't stand! and I should know, I'm a bleedin' Doctor! He drained that flask of his, into his throat, and threw the thing aside, wiping his mouth like some comical lumberjack, like the ones I've seen in those historical films the Surgeon had, back in the laboratory. When I swung the beam around to him, he looked outwardly no different than his normal self. But...I swear, he glowed, and his breath steamed, like the creature that moved to encircle him in it's serpentine mass. My beam followed Abe as he leapt anew onto the creature, grasping at it's loathsome jaws, his own held in an outlandish grimace. He kept on whooping and cheering as the thing threw him right to left in attempts to dislodge him, be he held fast every time. I was watching the creature, not Abraham. He navigated in the dark like something inhuman, like an animal...like me.The creature was reptilian in it's appearance, scales and jagged ratchet teeth that showed whenever it championed Abe's grip for fleeting seconds. A gargantuan tail sent waves of sewage crashing and climbing the walls of the chamber as it whipped against its enraged assailant. But slowly I saw it prize those deathly stinking jaws open, wide enough to swallow. I suddenly took notice of Abe staring at me; when the beam crossed him, his eyes shot it back. He maneuvered the beast's head beneath the water, and then I knew what he wanted me to do, to undertake, to decide."

"This...is difficult to recount. I'm a walr- a man of morals. I took the hippocratic oath, really it meant nothing, as I recounted it aloud, to myself, over and over, in the Surgeon's laboratory, my beastly tongue struggling to shape the words 'Do No Harm'. But I meant it, every last blasted sound and inflection, I meant it. I lurched forward, and drove my right tusk into the creature's skull. The impact shattered it completely, and every nerve in my jaw wailed in pain. Even as I struck, the creature's suddenly free jaws closed on my flipper. Gods! It wasn't the pain, but the memories it brought. Under the Surgeon's knife, and all his other foul implements. Dicing and chopping and twisting and sticking and blowing and sucking and slurping and stealing and...Gods"

"I still held the torch beam in my mouth as the creature died, and Abe loosed his grip, came to stand. As he clawed at the same spot with renewed vigour, I saw it float to the surface. Those eyes, they were still open. They haunt me. I saw no hate, no aggression; only fear, fear and a repressed kindness that I had never allowed it to express. I looked away.Abe's yelping brought me round again, he had freed something from inside the timbers, and it splashed into the pool. A barrel. Abe stuck his knife into it and grinned. In an animalistic fury, he supped at it while whatever was inside foamed from the wound. He laughed again. A cruel laugh. He looked at me, as if I knew, as if I knew what he was thinking. He fished his flask out from the pool, and held it to the wound, carefully decanting a full load of it's contents into the flask. And that was it. That appeared to be what we had come for."

"But upon emerging into daylight, I found Udders missing, with no trace to be discerned from our surroundings. I grew flustered, Abe said something, something like 'n'aww, lost yer steer, fishy? Here, you look like you need a sup...' but I flew into a rage and knocked him back. He stood up again, like he had before, but now he seemed frail and brittle once again, as he strained to get up and lean onto his crutch, 'naww, I'll gi' y' some time tah think it over, but you'll be back, e'ryone does heh heh heh'. I resolved to leave him, at that moment I lost all sympathy for him, but...Udders...I can't get her back alone, I'm just a Walrus. A Walrus in a man's world."

"The creature's eyes, and my oath come to me again and again in my sleep, and this thought troubles me in the recesses of my mind that are altogether deeper than waking thought and contemplation. I pledged to do no harm, above all, do no harm. But when I struck, when I...killed...the beast, when I chose to end it's life, when I chose to harm, with no regard for anything but myself..."

"Maybe he stole it from someone in the Enclave? Maybe he found a weapons cache, and the Enclave wanted to locate the rest of it? Maybe he was in the Enclave way back in the day and defected, and they finally got around to hunting him down? Those are my guesses, they're probably way off."

With those words, Lucy took the rifle from Frank's hands and spoke softly "William was heading to an Enclave base somewhere, I need a favour, can you just find out where it is for me?"

She turned and muttered "I'm using the shower in your quarters, I won't be long".

She never made eye-contact (although she wouldn't know) during the last part of their discussion. Closing the door of Frank's quarters behind her, she squirmed out of her armour and laid her belongings close to it. The surprisingly warm water dashing across her face, she closed her eyes and buried her head in her hands and she crouched in the corner.

--------------------------------------------

She was barefoot, wearing a tattered dress adorned with polka-dots and she stumbled many times as her body informed her just how weak she was.

Passing bullet-riddled houses, corpses and ashes. She had finally reached her home, she nearly gagged at the the pungent smell of rotting flesh that surrounded the area. She was only focused on one body, her father's, openly gutted. Tears streamed down her face as she turned away from the horrible sight.

She bumped into a large power-armored figure with orange neon lighting. "Y-you..." she stammered with horror and proceeded to beat her fists onto the figure's chest.

"Name's Bob" she received a swift knee to the stomach "Pleased to meet ya! Now you and me have gotta talk, young lady"

Lucy continued to struggle and was promptly punched to the ground, Bob kneeled next to her and pushed her face down into the ground "Sassy gal, ain't ya, Miss Black?"

Lucy couldn't move with her face shoved into the dirt, she struggled to even breathe properly.

"Now, we know that guy over there was your good ol' pop pop"

She glared, her breath ragged as she growled "W-why?!"

He chuckled earnestly "Because he had to go, that's why! Your old man got started by sticking his nose in the wrong places, despite our warnings and then he crossed the line" with this he lifted Lucy up and patted her back with a laugh.

She hated this man, he's a liar, who is he, why, dad was a trader...

"Fuck...you" her voice was layered with hatred

"Girl's got some fire, if you were Spanish..." He mused to himself then continued "Now, look here, daddy dearest there knew some sensitive information about us and you know what happens when we catch up to people like him."

He grabbed her hair and started pulling roughly "Since we can't exactly stroll up to certain places, we need you to report everything you hear about Megaton, Underworld, Rivet City, anything in the DC Ruins, hell even throw in the Brotherhood! We need someone with an ear to the ground, what people know about us and especially Brotherhood information"

Lucy yelped in pain "Go to hell! I'm not helping you fucking murdere-" she was cut short with a jab to the stomach.

"If you don't do this, we'll assume the worst and destroy those places...think of it as paying back your father's debt and saving the lives of many! Hell, I'm feeling good! Consider yourself an Enclave Asset and we'll even tell you about who your father really was."

"Each major place will buy you a year or two. Megaton there will give ya two years for a good start." He helped her up and extended his hand "So we got a deal...Hmm, you would be number...Enclave Asset Unit-08!" she couldn't tell, but he was grinning.

"If I do this, you won't hurt those people and you'll tell me about Dad?" it took her awhile to speak

"I may be many things: handsome, spanish, godlike, amazing in bed and a great drinking buddy but I never lie! You can walk away, but those people will die because YOU refused to make a sacrifice and you'll NEVER know the truth. So do we have a deal?"

Time seemed to stretch, but Lucy grudgingly took his hand: I will tear you to pieces one day. Watch me.

"Great! Whenever you have a full report, find a patrol, make your title known or else we're likely to kill ya. Good news, people live and you're one step closer to paying off daddy's debt. Bad news and we kill the people your father was involved with, the damn settlement and their cat's. Damn allergies..."

Bob spoke into a transmitter and a few minutes later a vertibird appeared nearby to pick him up, with a wave and a laugh, he was gone.

It took Lucy awhile to get back up, but entered her home, dug out her leather armor from under her bed and entered her birthday into the combination for the wall-safe hidden behind the oven. She picked up the Gauss Rifle she had only fired once and retrieved a large backpack filled with ammunition...

"What now?" she muttered out loud

--------------------------------------------

She turned off the shower and wondered about the intrusive memory Frank had inadvertently sparked. The people she had met. Frank, Vikki, William and maybe even Marlon would be disgusted with this information about her.

She had reported on Megaton not too long ago, reporting nothing out of the ordinary and that the Enclave was but a mystery to the residents, only theories floated around and that seemed enough for them. She had no idea if she had saved Megaton or played a hand in its possible destruction.

But the Brotherhood? She wasn't going to do this to them, to Frank especially. She still had time. She was going to find out the answers on her own, maybe someone knew something.

She can help other settlements by warning them, preparing them somehow, figuring out the Enclave's moves instead.

They still thought she was Enclave Asset Unit-08, somehow she could rip them apart from the inside out.

She needed to find William, their missions were interconnected somehow and Lucy had the access most don't...

She got dressed, tied her hair into two loose pigtails, made sure all her equipment was in order and walked out the room to find Frank.

It Will Rain Water And Hellfire Today.

Deep within the underground depths of the Enclave Super-Vault, Number One sat in silence. It was very mysterious, the way he did that. Sometimes, he would be in his chambers, seated and motionless for hours. Many of the men thought he was an android, but apparently he had a full quarters and made use of it regularly. It's just that nobody had ever seen him outside of the suit. This, of course, may sound familiar to anyone who's ever met a certain kind-of-ex-Brotherhood member, but worry not. There is no connection. Number One was just an enigmatic leader whose habits led everyone to worry sometimes...just what were they following? The chamber doors opened and in walked a powersuited man, his black armor having green highlights and eye-glow.

Jack: I have the report on current activities in all relevent sectors. The Legion is backing off due to a sudden attack of brainpower, the situation Section C is growing worse, we are getting in recruits and serviceable food as per schedule, and apparently...it's going to rain.

Number One: It's going to what?

Jack: Rain. You know... Moisture, clouds, falling water - all that.

Number One: I know what rain is! I asked for clarification because of our current standing. To whit, it has not actually rained here in YEARS.

Jack: I know that and you know that, but the fucking sky is starting to cloud up in places and that means rain.

Number One: It's liable to be acidic. The PH-balance around here is shot to hell. The only saving grace will be lowered toxicity through natural distillation, but that won't be worth much in the short run.

Jack: Well, the 'weather boys' seem to think it won't eat through your shorts, not unless it were concentrated.

Number One: I see. What is the status of the MGB?

Jack: Still tracking the transmission source. It was able to get coordinates.

Number One: GOOD!

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Meanwhile, at the Doc's laboratory...

Doc: Yes yes YES!! SUCCESS!! My incredible Gene Machine has done it again! More mutants ready, and now That Horse!

You may recall that, in the lab, a super mutant had brought in a Nightmare - a vicious irradiated horse with spikes growing out of its body - much to the Doc's glee. Well, that experiment was over now, and it had been apparently successful to whatever conclusion he had in mind. There was just one problem... One of the mutants was irritated.

"Listen, Doc. You promised us weapons for us to use once we were big. Now, is that gonna happen or what?"

Said madman looked at him, pressed a remote control button, and made some auto-food dispensors open. What lay in them made the mutants' eyes bulge out in surprise, and then they were all grins from that moment on.

Doc: I trust that that meets your satisfaction. NOW GET OUTSIDE!

They did so...into the sunlight and out from shade of Bethesda Software Building, where a few of their ginormous brethren and a number of their normal-sized brethren were patrolling the area.

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And in the darkness, there was a single grungy voice...

"Oh great master from beyond, hear thy fetid servant and grant me your favor. I am your true follower in the shadows, though I anticipate others will follow soon. The word is spreading, the catalyst is walking, and the fools war amongst themselves... This time belongs to you, O great ones. MY MIGHTY MASTAHS!!"

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

A REALLY WILD WASTELAND

SEASON TWO!

This is the tale of the wasteland gone wild. No, not that sexy porno thing. The REALLY Wild Wasteland, where the world has not only fallen into chaos because of war and destruction, but it's also kind of nutty. The Enclave is back and getting up to force once more, with a building with legs heading steadily East. There is also a new intelligent Raider group in the area with crosses tattooed on their faces, called the Heads. Lately, ghouls have been acting weird because of a strange calling that they can't quite place, though not all are affected. Also, there is the super mutant problem growing worse, all announced by the man as he pirated control of-

-GNR! That's the Galaxy News Radio, in case you forgot. Listen up, children, cuz we got a whole mess a' trouble goin' on. We've got Vertibirds in the sky and growing mutants on the ground. We've got a stampede of irradiated horses - called Nightmares - coming through and it's apparently riling-up ALL of the funky rad-animals. They might not attack you, but don't you give 'em any excuse. Only the Deathclaws are fearless enough at this time. I should also like to point out, children, that it's FINALLY come to pass: Rain clouds are forming in areas over the Capital Wastelands, though for now this only appears to be around Girdershade and Tenpenny Tower, so button up down there, folks! And now, some music...

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For the record, Scribe Ramsey wasn't as bad as he seemed. He wasn't assigned in order to be kept out of the BoS's hair or anything. The truth was that he was one of the more intelligent of the Scribes there. As such, they frankly had him minding the library alot. At this time, he was dressed in pre-war clothing with combat armor and a pair of glasses, his hair light-brown and his eyes blue. He wasn't so bad. He even brought his own motorcycle. He was just expecting things to move a bit quicker than this, as he was one who preferred an efficient workplace and people to work with. Here, let's get a look at his stats.

Anyway, he had been listening to his Pipboy now and said to the others...

Evan: Hey, guys. He just said on the radio it might rain around here soon. Might wanna be careful of that. No idea what rain's gonna be with all this toxicity, though I'd imagine you wouldn't want to stay in it for very long.

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The church Cassie just literally stumbled into with her Yao Gui was a real beaut of the old age. Great worksmanship, stone foundation, and it was mostly unharmed except by weathering. With the door closed behind her, she was safe from the stampede which - from the sound of things - might last a while. She called up to whoever it was that called her in and received an answer from upstairs. Upon reaching said person up there - because he seemed keen on staying - she found...a man with a mustache, well-armed and prepared for all manner of trouble.

Burt: Evening, ma'am. Didn't want to spook ya, but there has been a little bit of an incursion in the area, and I don't mean the horses. Those sorry SOB's are just icing on a particularly-nasty cake. You can probably see 'em from here.

What was he talking about? Well...if Cass were to have a look, she would find that the Nightmares passing along in their thick group were having...problems. Every now and then, one of them seemed to fall over, panic, and never be heard from again. And just before it happened, it seemed like something serpentine had grabbed them from out of nowhere, or...from underneath the ground. After a moment, Burt spoke again.

Burt: We should be secure here, thanks to the foundation, and they may even move on with the herd to keep taking their numbers, but...and this is the big but...I think for the good of the people in this world, we should take them out before they do some serious harm.

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As soon as Sully identified himself to the robot, said machine saluted him army-style and said...

LM: I am designated 'Liberty Minor'. My programming and intelligence was transplanted from the remains of my previous body into this one by Allied agents. The Red Army will stop at nothing to taint this great nation, but I will thwart them even if I must sacrifice this form as well.

If this boyo was talking sense enough, it seemed like he was claiming to have formerly been Liberty Prime, the robot that stopped the Enclave in this area with the BoS some years back. If so, then cool partner. However, for now, Sully appeared to be more concerned with some kinda' directions from the slack-jawed ghouls around here. He kept asking 'em where the 'Wizard' was, and finally...they all pointed in a South-Westernly direction, and then began to amble in that direction. A moment later, however, a buzzer sounded from Liberty Minor.

LM: Anomalous radiation signature detected.

He turned towards the source, and it was a...well, it was a humanoid shape, but it was glowing RED with energy. with some of its bones visible and white lights for eyes somehow. This was a...a VERY potent Glowing One! It was red instead of yellow-green and it appeared to have... Why was there a Brahmin with it?

"What'sss up, Wassstlandersss...?"

That sucker's waving at 'em!

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Brandon made to move out of there and away from the Enclave soldier, but when Rex growled at FalloutScott, that got his attention...and his sentries. The two of them buzzed at the dog for that and were as equal in this standoff as Rex was. The powersuit guy noticed this and looked over at the moving Brandon.

FalloutScott: Laddie, I think you want to call off yer dog a'fore it gets into unwanted trouble.

But even as that was going on, in came a rather wrecked-looking Enclave soldier of familiar- HEY! That was David Davidson! He literally shook off his ruined armor before FalloutScott, revealing a black-haired main in a black longcoat and pre-war shirt and pants with a smirk on his face.

FalloutDavid: There's a small-scale Liberty Prime out there. I thought the rest of you should know. Be a doll and fix my armor up. I don't feel like going back to base and...DOG!

As soon as he spoke up to them, all of the remaining Gary clones got into a huddle and appeared to have a very in-depth discussion which...well...sounded like a bunch of men saying "Gary" alot. Still, it held meaning to THEM, so there we are. Finally, they were done and one of the men there approached Shifty with a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"Gary Gary, Gary-Gary Gary Gary. Gary Gary Gary GARY. Gary?"

The rest of them appeared to be power-looting all of the corpses. The Gary facing Shifty appeared to be awaiting some sort of response...

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WHEN WE LAST LEFT OUR HERO...the weird freaky Duper Mutant full of deadly mutant eels had been soundly thashed into tiny bits, thanks to the efforts of Flash and FalloutBob! BUT WAIT! Flash was hurt in the battle, and ALAS he had not the Doctor Bag to fix his limb-trouble! Fortunately, his plight was noticed by the incomparable powersuit man, FalloutBob, who went into his Enclave hovercraft and pulled out the very thing he needed!

FalloutBob: Relax, Flashy old boy! I'll have you fixed up in a cinch...

Wait. Uhhh, Bob? You're not really trained in medicine. Bob? Put down the bandages and splints right now. No, don't use it like that! He's not even wounded there! Oh, I can't look... But a little while later, Flash was comically bandaged all over his body, including his actual damages. Well...he'd make a full recovery, at least. Suddenly, though, there was a beep from the hovercraft. Bob leapt into action and SUPER-ANSWERED!!

FalloutBob: Hello? Yeah? Really? So soon? Dayum... Okay, I'm on it.

He turned to Flash.

FalloutBob: Yo, Flash! That was mah commander-in-chief. He wants me to handle some other business! I gotta go! See ya!

The Enclave machine closed up and started up...poorly. It was able to rocket off to its next destination, but the thing was stalling intermittently.

FalloutBob: Oh, god dammit... My hovercraft is full of eels!

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This is the situation at the Citadel right now.

Frank Rose's group had been afforded some hospitality, even free movement within the Citadel, thanks largely to Frank's own influence. During the time they had been questioning Vikki, they began to learn a few of the super mutant movements, mostly because she wasn't really comfortable around them and was therefore fairly-free with the info. However, her leg damage was bad enough that she wasn't going ANYWHERE for a while. That much, a Scribe was off to relate to Lucy, having noted that they were friends and wanting to make up for the asshole that had shouted before.

Marlon Van Graff was heard and then put in a cell - not an unpleasant cell - during Sara Lyons' deliberations. His information had been enlightening, but troubling. What was it with those singular people in the wasteland that seemed to do so much? A Courier there, a Vault Dweller here...and that's not even counting ancient history. She and the others had eventually come to a decision and had a couple of men sent to his cell to bring Marlon back to her for the official answer.

Lucy Black's now-upgraded Gauss Rifle had been analyzed during the process of it being worked upon. What they found was a little worrysome. It did not appear to be refurbished old world tech. All the parts had been new upon manufacture, which couldn't have been - comparatively - very long ago. Now, they knew of Isaac Black, but this led the BoS lot to start to wonder HOW MUCH they ever knew about him...

In addition to having some idea on where the Enclave base was - the same information that they gave William Knight - there was also a notion of where 'The Doc' was, thanks to information from Vikki. It seemed likely that the Behemoth-making man would be in some northern mutant territory, which also somewhat coincided with transmission direction, but that that made it seem farther off, so it was uncertain. Even still, this was information, and important.

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Dan Halder had been asked to meet a man - a stranger in these parts - about a job that involved him hammering some folks into the ground. The people asking to hire had been a weird bunch. They looked like raiders, but...savvy raiders. Raiders who are smart? SINCE WHEN?! But these guys with the crosses tattooed on their faces were playing it slick, offering payment and all. They wanted him to see their boss, Blacky. And so, outside of a town, behind some large rocks, he would find this Blacky...and a bunch of his boys...well-armed and waiting. Blacky himself was dressed - as advertised - all in black, head to toe including a mask with red eye-filters. You couldn't even see his mouth. He was personally carrying a mini-gun, but neither he nor any of them were in a fighting mood.

Blacky: I'll cut to the chase, Dan. You see that town down there? Well, right now, there are some men I want dead. You'll know 'em by the sight of 'em. They're all Enclave. Those bastards killed a bunch of my men back west and they've been pushing us east with their expanding territory. Right now, there's a few regulars, plus two of their 'special' agents, one of 'em out of his armor 'cause he tangled with something BAD. I don't care. Show me their crushed helmets with their mashed fat heads inside and I'll pay you a hundred caps for every regular, and a thousand caps for every 'special'. I want them not just dead, but dead in such a manner that it cripples their morale to see them ended so easily. We can talk more after you're done... Do we have a deal?

That town was where Brandon, Rex, FalloutScott, FalloutDavid, a bunch of people, and probably a few Enclave soldiers were.

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Two men in an old jeep, a jeep that's been epically jury-rigged time and again. Sorry, two men? Two ghouls. They were armed, they were armored, and they looked pretty military, especially the driver. They had met some time back and were traveling together these days, now currently making their way over some unruly hills that rose and dipped unexpectedly. Their names? Jackson Badass Murphy and Forest Borrt. And in the middle of whatever they were doing...something rose up over a hill, something big and quite loud...

Let's take it from the beginning: Before it actually came into view, there had been a sound like HEAVY tank treads. Then, when it appeared...it looked like a moving BUILDING. It was this shakily-held-together box-shaped sort of a building that appeared to be moving on its own accord. A very keen eye would be able to notice that the building was actually not on the ground, but close to it as something like metal legs appeared to be flat to the ground where some large tank-like metal treads were indeed carryng it off to some sort of destination.

Well...either something was carrying the building on its back, or something was IN said building for...some sort of reason.

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Stanley was a lucky, lucky man. He and his high-spiritedness had gained the attention of none other than Mr. Morgan Bloom, the Gentleman Ghoul, for a job that seemed right up his alley. He was to report to one Emerson Estabahn, the man who had refurbished the Nuka Cola Factory and set the business back into motion, producing that most-wonderous drink, Nuka-Cola. He was almost there, the factory at last within sight, when...a rather dirty-looking Enclave Vertibird came out of nowhere and almost landed on him! There, it dropped off a man and, oddly enough, a Robobrain robot. Yes, unfortunately this was the landing spot also chosen by Wayne and his slow-as-hell robot companion. All this, and not far from their location were...three others: An overweight Vault 10 Dweller, a young lady with a laser rifle, and a ghoul with a rifle. Their names? Twig, Scar, and Ben. Their destination: The Nuka Cola Factory. However, between them and it: Stan and Wayne.

Twig: Okay...that looks like trouble.

Ben: Well then, go back home, smoothskin. You're the one that wanted to come here.

Twig: Yeah, and work! They needed a Nuka Cola expert and there is nobody more versed in it than me!

Scar: Nobody more versed in drinking it, you mean. I don't think this is gonna work the way you think it does.

Ben: Look, can we just deal with what's in front first? 'Cause if not, I'm gonna take a nap.

With bandages over almost every inch of his body and splints badly restricting his movement he laid back. "MMMMPHHHHMMMMMMMPPPPPP!!!!!!" he said trying to speak through the bandages. He made an unintelligable sound that was meant to be a sigh. He decided that he was going to make an attempt to get up. The flailing and muffled shouts were an even mix of sad and amusing. After about half an hour he finally worked his way to his feet. He was unable to bend his legs and his arms were stuck in a forward position. He appeared less like a man attempting to be a superhero and more like a doctor who had to slap together a mummy costume at the last minute. The only question was where to go now? If he was spotted by raiders he would surely die or have the most brutal slap fight ever. He would surely need to find a friendly able and willing to both not kill him and to assist him. That would be rather difficult with his inability to speak, but eh what can you do.

Marlon was optimistic as he was escorted back to see Lyons again. He wasn't being treated especially prisoner like and it was a fair bet that in the scheme of things Lyons was probably a bit more concerned about the enclave and the mutants than him. Maybe the outcasts too.

The outcasts. Now there was an idea. The brotherhood out this way had moved with the times. The outcasts though, they were old school. They were fundamental, by the book, goddamn nutcases. The original recipe brotherhood loons. Maybe if things went real nice he'd be able to get a front row seat to wiping them off the map. He'd have to make a point of offering to help deal with them to Lyons if the opportunity ever arose.

Right now though, he needed to find out whether or not he was back in business.

Wayne hurried off the loading ramp of the vertibird, hoping he would never have to endure such an unnatural experience ever again. As far as he was concerned, people don't fly these days for good reason. He tapped at this pip-boy causing his hunk-o-junk Robobrain companion to follow him off the ramp.

'I couldn't get you any further north' shouted a voice from behind, contending with the sound of the vertibird's jets, Wayne turned to look at Daisy leaning out of the cockpit. 'Too much action going on up there'

"Well what in the hell do you expect me to do you old coffin dodger?"

'Hmm, you could try asking someone, maybe even try being nice, instead of being so heavy handed y'know?' And with that she turned back to her controls and began closing the ramp. Wayne moved away as fast as he could, the force of the jets helping him along as the winged relic took off heading back west.

"Great" He murmured to himself as he squinted through the dust, hoping to see something useful in a place he had never been before. Slowly the dust lowered to reveal a man stood, not far at all from the landing site, it was hard to tell if he was scared or pissed at the hunk of metal that nearly landed on top of him. "Only one way to find out" he swung his duster back behind the holster of his revolver, placing his hand loosely on top of the gun hoping to get the message across.

Now, I could put this gun in his mouth and force him to tell me where I am, but it'd be hard to talk with a piece of metal in his teeth.I could give him one in the leg, keep his mouth free, but what if he's not alone... don't wanna attract attention.Maybe I'll just draw on him, but he could have anything under that duster of his.Looks like I'll have to *sigh*

"Hey fella, sorry about nearly crushing you, I'm looking for some Enclave folk in the area... You seen any?"

Wait, who are those 3 behind this fool?

He grabbed his rifle this time, aiming at the three standing a short distance away. If there's one thing he did know it was people were trouble in numbers no matter what part of this god forsaken country you were in. "And just who the f**k are you guys?" He yelled

Dan sighed. He wasn't a mercenary and he usually didn't do jobs for raiders but this opportunity was too good to pass up. A couple thousand caps was never a bad deal and it never hurt to have a good ear in a raider group, especially if they started to gain power in the area. As long as they never had any conflicting issues they could provide a mutual beneficial relationship.

Standing up from the crouched position he had taken to look eye to eye with Blacky, Dan stretched his body and looked at Blacky with his most intimating stare, which wasn't hard considering his height and size.

"I'll do it. But you better be sure to pay up. I don't like it when people short change me," to drive home his point he took hold of his sledge hammer and swung at the rock above Blacky with one arm, smashing a piece of the rock into dust and gravel that covered Blacky and Dan. Grinning Dan rested the sledgehammer on his shoulders.

"But you guys seem smart enough to know that," Dan walked away from the group of raiders backwards, "Of course I'll be back in a bit to collect my caps." Pivoting on his foot Dan made his way towards the town.

Dan was too large to be sneaky so he walked straight into town.

"To all bug eyed, metal cowards. Every single one of ya around here will be dead by sundown. If you'll run I'll kill. If you hide I'll kill ya. If you try to be a hero I'll kill ya. So its best to come on out here right now and I'll give ya the luxury of being finished off quickly. So come on out and line up. Its hammerin time!" Dan rested the head of his sledgehammer on the the ground and leaned on it like a cane as waited for the Enclave to come out and start shooting at him.

Her mind was still clouded by all this Enclave business, no matter what her intentions may be, she was still technically linked to them. Oh the irony.

Although a small part of her wanted to follow orders just for her own selfish reasons, but she knew she couldn't do that. Not to the Brotherhood and especially not to Frank.

Lucy had barely turned around from closing Frank's door when she literally bumped into a Brotherhood Scribe "Sorry, didn't see you there!"

"Miss Black? I have...unfortunate news about your friend? The semi-mutant they call Vikki."

Her heart fell slightly at his tone "Is she okay? It was only a broken leg, they said everything woul-..."

The Scribe had put his hand up to stop her "There were complications in the healing process, mutant anatomy is not so different from ours, but it seems that the experiments carried out on her stunted her natural mutant healing process. She's slightly more durable than an average human, but only slightly. When her leg began to heal on it's own accord, the bone and muscles had set incorrectly, effectively destroying valuable nerve-endings. She has lost the ability to use her leg. It may heal over time, but with an individual as unique as her, we cannot say for sure."

He looked apologetic and she appreciated that "Thank you for being so straight up with me, can I go see her?"

He started to lead the way to the Med-Wing."Of course, she is heavily sedated though, upon discovery of her situation, she suffered a severe emotional breakdown. During that time, she mentioned your name and Former Knight Rose profusely, she was rather fond of you two by the sound of it."

Lucy turned to him "You didn't have to tell me or be so kind, so for what it's worth, thank you."

He gave a polite smile "I was in the room when one of my fellow scribes started berating you, I wish to offer our most sincere apologies towards potential allies of the Brotherhood."

She gave a small smile at that and entered the Med-Wing alone, Vikki was indeed heavily sedated, but she looked peaceful "This isn't goodbye my friend. There's still so much we have to know about one another, one day I'll explain everything." she leaned over and hugged Vikki's small frame and whispered "Thank you for believing in me, for fighting by my side and protecting me. For now I'll try to finish your fight. I'm sorry for getting you in this mess. I fucked up again..."

She couldn't stay there any longer without her heart breaking, so with one final squeeze of her hand, she walked out of the room and turned to the Scribe "Marlon van Graff? He's in some sort of meeting with the Elder? Is there anyway I could see him?"

"I'm afraid that's impossible, not until Elder Lyons has granted him pardon."

"Oh..." she paused "William Knight, he's out on a mission, who could I ask for details regarding that?...I need to find him, urgently."

"The Elder, you would need someone of a higher rank to bring you before her."

She sighed in frustration "Maybe Frank...Anyway, thank you"

He smiled politely, but then his eyes shifted to the rifle on her back, the smile faded and his eyes turned cold.

Do I smell like Enclave now, just because I'm thinking about them? What was that about?

She decided against asking because she had just noticed that nearly everyone, surrounding her in the hallway, who wasn't wearing a helmet were throwing wary to completely hostile glances her way.

Barry "walked" South-eastward for no better reason than that it felt right. After a while he heard a faint sound of movement. He wished he didn't have bandages covering parts of his ears. He turned around and saw a molerat. Well this was going to be fun. The creature rammed him and knocked the already poorly balanced Barry off of his feet. The rat began biting and clawing at his face. Barry pondered this before going for a headbutt. The Molerat stumbled back obviously hurt. Barry then twisted his torso back and forth until he was able to flip sideways. He slammed the rat with both brofists and the creature exploded into a bloody pile of gibs. "MMMPPPHHHHHH," he said victoriously. He struggled back to his feet. At this point he saw a Vault in the distance. "MMMMPPPPHHHPHHHPHHMMM" He said excited heading towards it. Heading towards it slowly, very very slowly.

"Hey fella, sorry about nearly crushing you, I'm looking for some Enclave folk in the area... You seen any?"Stanley looked the man up and down. A thug who thought he was more important than he was, Stanley decided. Nice duster, though. And pretty eyes. No one that bad could have such pretty eyes.

"It's alright! I'm just not used to looking up when walking. Enclave? Nah, man. Not around here." Stanley said cheerfully.

As the strange man shouted at something behind Stanley- shouted quite rudely, one might add- he turned around and looked. "I don't see anything." he said, only glancing, really.Then he heard them, some people arguing it sounded like. A ghoul, probably, or someone with a serious chain-smoking habit. Either a woman or a young boy, he couldn't tell. They all sounded alike at a distance.

He looked harder, now, and finally spotted them. He briefly allowed his hand to stray to his pistol, then put his hand down near his side without drawing. Drawing a weapon before at least talking first almost always leads to fights, in Stanley's experience.Granted, in the wasteland, everything leads to a fight.

ForestBriefly thinking about commenting to Jackson and asking if it was real or not, he settled on forgoing the obvious comments, and questions like..."Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Are we on something? Back in my day..."He opted out to comment as he brought up his Gauss rifle."What do you think that is, and should we follow, run, or shoot and see what happens?"His voice was the accustomed gravel tones, as he looked around in any case.

Jackson turned slightly to address his travelling companion, still paying attention to the road."Follow. If you shoot it, you're running though." In truth, even Jackson was curious as to what this thing was. Shooting it didn't seem smart though, especially with their ammo problems. And food problems. And water problems. The thought occurred to him,'We need to go scavenging soon.' Oh well, that was what he had Forest for. He had an eye for it, or at least a better one than Jackson."I don't recognize the area, do you?" Jacksons voice was alot smoother than Forests, but still sounded like he had just gotten done smoking all the cigarettes in the wasteland.

"William was heading to an Enclave base somewhere, I need a favour, can you just find out where it is for me?""I'll try, but don't just run off looking for him. I would really like you around when we inevitably siege the Doctor's base, and after that, I'll gladly come along, and help with this Enclave Base/Missing boyfriend situation.""I'm using the shower in your quarters, I won't be long"."Just ignore the cameras."Frank headed down to the lab to ask about the location of the Enclave base."Sorry Frank, we need the Elder's approval to tell you, and she's busy with the Van Graff. Knowing her she'll have him "Earn a pardon" by being on the front lines of whatever battle we go into next, without power armor.""Well that's something."

"It's alright! I'm just not used tolooking upwhen walking. Enclave?Nah, man. Not around here."

Was I being lied to? Pretty good idea to leave me on the other side of the damn country. Why the hell has Arcade done this to me?

Just as Wayne thought he had been screwed over, and as if by some divine intervention, a tattered old poster blew by in the wind "Enclave wants" was all Wayne could make from it. They were here, somewhere.

He watched as the man drew his sidearm and turned to face the mystery trio, they were obviously not involved, mutually anyway.

'Friends?' He asked. 'Bit of a mismatched group, and who the hell gets fat in the wasteland anyway?'

The fat b**tard didn't bother him half as much as the ghoul though

Great, here 10 minutes and I run into a f**king ghoul

Wayne hid his disdain and spoke once more to the man in tin plate armour and a copycat duster, 'Looks like these may be fans of yours, you mind if we sign some autographs? I don't fancy turning my back on any group if they're unhappy... Then we can talk about where the sweet hell I am."

Brandon was unhappy with seeing the man, he wanted to avoid this kind of trouble. Rex growled at the man and his sentries. He was thinking of running for a second, but he eventually decided against it. Instead he smiled at the man trying to look innocent. The man said "Laddie, I think you want to call off yer dog a'fore it gets into unwanted trouble." Brandon was about to respond when another enclave soldier appeared.

The man had such an ruined armor that if fell apart, revealing a black haired man with a black coat. He said "There's a small-scale Liberty Prime out there. I thought the rest of you should know. Be a doll and fix my armor up. I don't feel like going back to base and...DOG! Brandon was a bit shocked by the last word. The man looked at Rex and started to hold a story about how amazing dogs were.

Brandon smiled. "Thank you for complimenting my dog Rex." Brandon said with a modest smile. "And I will make sure that he doesn't engage your sentries." Brandon pointed at the sentries "Not enemies." He said to Rex. "So what did you said about this, small scale Liberty prime?" Brandon was curious about that, he was petting Rex on his back.

"If I recall, we're a bit far off from the Bethesda ruins. It's mostly raiders and ghouls, and the raiders tend to eat people more then the ghouls do. I reckon we can go and kill/steal things there, but I'd prefer not leaving the jeep near there. If we do plan to follow that, moving... giant... box? It'll attract some attention..."

Rubbing above his eyes, Forest looked through the scope of his rifle around the place,. Paranoia and curiosity in equal parts, he didn't have ammo to spare, but it'd be worth it to not get shot in the back. In that matter he'd rather get shot then have the jeep be damaged, working on keeping it running with Jackson was no easy task.

Jackson took a moment to think and sighed. He preferred having food than a satiated curiosity. He turned the jeep towards the direction Forest had pointed out, hiding the jeep behind some rubble,getting out and putting some in to give it that usual "junk" look all the other models shared.Jackson took his assault rifle out of the trunk, and checked his gear again, and finally turned to Forest."Lead the way, chum."

'Looks like these may be fans of yours, you mind if we sign some autographs? I don't fancy turning my back on any group if they're unhappy... Then we can talk about where the sweet hell I am.""Oooh, you think so? Let's go meet them!" Stanley exclaimed, then quickly headed towards the trio, his mission left for a later date. Stanley stopped a little ways away and seeing the man look at him like he was deficient, Stanley waved for him to come on. "Come on, then! People to meet, things to do!"

Of course, Garys do not have mothers TO teabag or anything of the sort. Fortunately, Shifty's probing into their ingenius language did not land him into terminal danger. Instead, the Gary he was talking to turned around, shouted a bunch of good-natured 'Garys' at the others, and then a they got to work on the corpses double-time, removing everything of value quickly. Afterwhich, there was a small pile of identical bodies and apparently all the caps that the Heads had on 'em, because Garys don't recognize caps as currency. Ergo, they thought Shifty was the garbage man. From there, they ran off like a rampaging stampede that goes "GARY! GARY! GARY! GARY! GARY!". Believe it or not, stranger things have happened. There was also a red glow some distance away for some reason and something...something around here was going "MMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPHHHHH!!!!", but who can say wh- AGH!! MUMMY!! Wait...mummy? Walking dead person? AHA!! A CUSTOMER!!

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In the wake of Rex getting alot of attention from David Davidson, Brandon spoke up to reassure the other Enclave agent that he wasn't going to cause any trouble. What Rex actually does with the loud, noisy Sentry-Bots, however... At this time, FalloutScott was grumbling to himself and working on the Enclave armor. Well, all that is off to the side for now as the man asked David about the LM.

FalloutDavid: Well, I was busy sniping some guy when this human-sized version of Liberty Prime jumped out of nowhere and engaged me in a climactic battle scene in which we fought tooth and nail amidst a town full of Deathclaws...and unfortunately, I wrecked my suit in the process. It's a damn shame. I can't go Invisibo without it.

It was at that point that a NEW development turned up...in the form of big man, Dan Halder, with his sledgehammer. He had apparently gone on swimmingly with his deal up by the rocks outside of town and was now here to deliver threats upon the masses. Did we say masses? We meant the Enclave soldiers! He declared, loudly, that he was going to kill every single one of the bastards, using a hammer. That...got Scotty's attention.

FalloutScott: A hammer, ya say? Well, I'll just finish up here an' then we'll see about that.

FalloutDavid: How many of us are in town, anyway?

FalloutScott: Five, not includin' you an' me.

FalloutDavid: So, he just walked into town to pick a fight and...within seconds, every guy that heard him has a gun trained on his ass, doesn't he?

Two on a rooftop, one guy down the street, another coming out of an alley, and the last guy coming out of a bar - all of them pointing Plasma Rifles.

FalloutScott: Aye, that's the rub.

However, it was Scotty's two Sentry-Bots that opened fire with their miniguns first, approaching as they fired in order to try sinking their machine-claws into him.

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As soon as Wayne aimed his gun at the three others, he had a pistol, a laser rifle, and a hunting rifle aimed right back at him. They were a pain in the ass to each other, and sometimes even kinda' stupid, but they were pretty quick to aim guns as necessary.

Twig: Whoa...hey, we're just here for a job at that plant. You two can go back to shooting each other or whatever you were doing. Just leave us out of it.

Ben: Hey, smoothskin. You don't wanna get between this guy and the Nuka-Cola. He's like a junky with that stuff, and you know what junkies are like when they haven't got any. A little twitchy.

There was a tense moment, then...

Twig: Wait. Seriously? Have I EVER been twitchy just because I haven't had a Nuka Break?

Scar: Sometimes.

Ben: Ya certainly hallucinated when I gave you that water before.

Twig: That was before!

Another argument during a Mexican Standoff. Do these guys ever give it a rest? Well, while they're up in arms over that with Stan and Wayne trying to decide who's copying who, let us now turn to the roof of the Nuka Cola Factory, to an aged gentleman in a nice pre-war suit and a stetson: Emerson Estabahn, owner and proprieter. He was looking over at the tiny specks in the wasteland and the retreating Vertibird, next to a man with a sniper rifle.

Estabahn: Who are they, Mick?

Mick: Looks like your three new inspectors, along with that guy Bloom was sending. The one outta the Vertibird, I can't identify.

Estabahn: Having a shoot-out in front of my factory... It's disgraceful!

Mick: They're not shooting yet. Looks more like shouting. Want me to give 'em a warning?

There appeared to be a small party of hired guards approaching casually, guns not at hostile yet.

Estabahn: Let the other men get closer, then if they fail to notice...get their attention.

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Jackson and Forest decided to park their heap near a sad heap of a ruined home and make it look like it was just as junky and worthless while they moved on to have a look around. Localy, they could have found some molerat or mutated ant holes, but a look in the way distance at the Bethesda buildings would reveal...a problem. Not just super mutants, but a few Behemoths wandering specifically in that area...as if patrolling something. Almost like there were something very important going on there...

While they were doing this, the strange building-thing they had been watching before was still in sight range, now getting on its feet - clawed mechanical feet on reverse-jointed machine-legs with the tank treads on the backs - and walking up a hill towards what looked like a communications tower...with a small group of buildings and barricades set around it. They would be able to see what happened next, and hardly be able to miss it for the noise.

MGB STATUS: GOOD

ASSESSMENT: Real enemy base not located yet.

ACTION: Destroy.

Of course, the super mutants living in the buildings weren't going to miss a building with legs walking towards them, not when it was up the hill moving right for them. They clambered out with rocket launchers and assault rifles and fired on the thing without mercy. Unfortunately, it wasn't doing much as the crumbly building was acting as a buffer for WHATEVER it was against 'em. Then again, given the legs, would it really make a difference? That was when the front building-pieces were dropped for all the mutants to see and gawk at.

"Mother of go-"

Jackson and Forest would then hear the unmistakable sound of vulcan cannons and missles firing from that thing, as every mutant there was chunkified and every building was first swiss cheese barely holding together...and then blown up by the missles. The radio tower collapsed soon after. But then, when it happened-

"HEY!!"

-there was a Super Mutant Behemoth up north enough, as it had been closer to the two ghouls' position looking for molerat to eat, to see the exchange. It ran up the hill in lumbering steps and rammed that standing building with its shoulder, knocking ever piece of it out of alignment and revealing the thing underneath. Every piece of the building had been held in place by what looked like a mechanical tendril using an adhesive substance to stick to surfaces and hold everything together to give it cover. Now that it was gone...

The 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

The machine took a step back to steady itself and assess its target, which was a big angry giant which was punching at it. The pivoting base turned and the MGB returned the punch to its stomach, before turning its base again to palm-strike the Behemoth in the face. The big mutant lurched from the impacts, faltering back...then it gripped the fallen radio tower and slammed it into the machine, knocking it off-balance for a moment as the old rusty tower broke in half. No matter. It just raised the ramining tower to strike at it again...and that's where the advantage was lost. The MGB's targeting scanner gave it a list of viable moves and acted on them simultaneously. Two missles intercepted the tower while the machine's hands reached out and broke both of the Behemoth's wrists in a cold mechanical grip while it received the equivalent of a kneecapping via the vulcans. The Behemoth let out a scream as it was suddenly on its knees and unable to pull away now. Its captor hesitated for a few ghastly seconds...before firing a short gun burst into the mutant's face and unceremoniously dumping it on the ground. Thereby, it did a scan both visually and by radar, determining whether there were other immediate hostiles or targets that it had been specifically told to look for. It had only one official target left, and it did not find it, so out came the mecha-tendrils to pick up the damaged building pieces and hastily assemble the rough estimation of a building around itself, which it sat down in to look like it was another ruined hulk in the wasteland, awaiting further orders.

Well, now what, you two?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Not long after they went to fetch Marlon and brought him in to speak with Sarah Lyons, the same guards were instructed to find and escort Frank Rose and Lucy Black to outside the same meeting room to because she wanted to speak to them afterwards. Yeah, all three of them. Situations were getting nasty. Meantime, we have Marlon Van Graff, the man from New Vegas. Sarah paced around a bit, armored guards standing idle while she did this, and then she stopped and said...

Sarah: I've been thinking about all that you said, and I've come to the conclusion...that you're worth at least hearing out, that I can give you the benefit of the doubt enough that we will no longer be holding your belongings or keep you locked up. You are free to go about your business, with the understanding that we don't want any trouble from you, obviously. What you've told me about the West Coast bothers me, of course, but it looks to me like part of that problem is taking care of itself. Brotherhood West is a dying breed, unable to adapt itself to the times. I expect the Outcasts will be no different, since I will actually recruit and teach people how to handle what's littering their backyard and going 'beep-beep' at them. And you...

She pointed her finger at him.

Sarah: ...are going to help with that. You're going to make sure the right people know what the hell they're doing with your products, and make sure the wrong people - like raiders - have a better chance of fucking it up. Because I am sick to death of raiders in this area. There's way too many of them. But rather than waste my time trying to hunt them down, I'd like them to try something stupid like trying to handle a laser properly, only to get cut down by my men. The point is...I'm prepared to let you go and carry on with your business. However, before that, we have the safety of the wastes to deal with.

She made a nod to a guard, which in turn had him radio outside to bring in the other two, Lucy and Frank now entering the room. When they did, Sarah switched on a viewing screen with a map of the area. It seemed focused on here in the Citadel and an area north of here.

Sarah: All three of you have come here under...interesting situations. Marlon is a Van Graff and an arms dealer whom we were sketchy about. That much, you'll be relieved to know, has passed for the time being. Frank was, of course, one of us and he left...only to lead you two here in handling a new Behemoth, quite well I should point out. And then...there's you.

She stopped in front of Lucy.

Sarah: Miss Black, by now you've probably had your suspicions that your father, Isaac, was associated with us at some point. He was. He had worked with my father for a time, enough that he might've been considered one of us...but he didn't want to get that close for some reason. My father always assumed it was because being in the Brotherhood marked you for life, that because of how the wastes might view us with unease that he didn't want to be that deeply involved. Father respected his wishes, and their association remained unofficial. Lately, though, I'm thinking we never really understood the man at all...and the reason why is that weapon.

By this, she meant her now-customized Gauss Rifle.

Sarah: That rifle was examined and detemined to be reletively new. It couldn't be more than a few years old, if that. I would question you as to where he could have gotten such a thing, but I doubt you know any better than I do, if that. So...I'll get to the point, which is this map. In return for...a little leeway, a bit of understanding, a bit of hospitality...I would like your help in handling this Behemoth situation. Frank obviously knows we can't let this nutcase go unchallenged. Chances are, neither will the Enclave, since the guy actually called them out. However, since there hasn't been a bout of Vertibirds lately, I'm going to assume that they're being a little more covert. So be it. We still have a few of their machines and we can arrive at their place at the ruins of Bethesda Software in minutes. We can mobilize teams and-

There was an interruption from a radio, something from the field.

-Citadel, this is Scout-7, North-West perimeter of the DC Ruins. We have three Extra-Larges, armed to the teeth and heading your way!-

Sarah got on the radio to respond, clearly surprised by this.

Sarah: Right now? How are they armed? Give me ETA!

There was the sound of an explosion on the other end.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The smoke cleared and chunks fell away from the building, but fortunately the man in the armor had jumped away in time and was now relatively safe.

Scout-7: Phew! That was a close one... Ma'am, two of the bastards seem to have a bunch of Mini-Nukes that they're throwing like grenades. The lead bastard's wearing car parts for armor, wielding a big fucking hammer and riding a giant horse!

Three Super Mutant Behemoths, one of them riding a scaled-up Nightmare with three eyes. The two flunkies were tossing the odd Mini-Nuke from a makeshift bandolier across their chests. The main guy was car-part-armored as stated and wielding a hammer that was essentially steel I-beam handle with a chunk of building as the head. They were heading for the Citadel, alright.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

-They'll be there in about ten minutes! We'll try and slow 'em down, but nobody can get close right now!-

Sarah: Shit...

She got off the radio and operated Citadel intercoms.

Sarah: Citadel, this is an emergency situation! All personnel will arm immediately and prepare to defend the perimeter, starting with the Northern sector This is not a drill, so move your asses!

An alarm sounded seconds later as dispatch repeated orders. Game time, everybody!

What just happened...<p>Jackson and Forest decided to park their heap near a sad heap of a ruined home and make it look like it was just as junky and worthless while they moved on to have a look around.  Localy, they could have found some molerat or mutated ant holes, but a look in the way distance at the Bethesda buildings would reveal...a problem.  Not just super mutants, but a few Behemoths wandering specifically in that area...as if patrolling something.  Almost like there were something very important going on there...</p>
<p>While they were doing this, the strange building-thing they had been watching before was still in sight range, now getting on its feet - clawed mechanical feet on reverse-jointed machine-legs with the tank treads on the backs - and walking up a hill towards what looked like a communications tower...with a small group of buildings and barricades set around it.  They would be able to see what happened next, and hardly be able to miss it for the noise.</p>
<p><div style='text-align: center;'><code><h2><strong><u><font color="#ee4a2d">MGB STATUS: GOOD</font></u></strong></h2>
<p></code></div></p>
<p><code><h3><strong><font color="#ee4a2d">ANALYSIS: Signal trace leads to super mutant settlement with radio tower.</font></strong></h3>
<p></code></p>
<p><code><h3><strong><font color="#ee4a2d">ASSESSMENT: Real enemy base not located yet.</font></strong></h3>
<p></code></p>
<p><code><h3><strong><font color="#ee4a2d">ACTION: Destroy.</font></strong></h3>
<p></code></p>
<p>Of course, the super mutants living in the buildings weren't going to miss a building with legs walking towards them, not when it was up the hill moving right for them.  They clambered out with rocket launchers and assault rifles and fired on the thing without mercy.  Unfortunately, it wasn't doing much as the crumbly building was acting as a buffer for WHATEVER it was against 'em.  Then again, given the legs, would it really make a difference?  That was when the front building-pieces were dropped for all the mutants to see and gawk at.</p>
<p><strong>"Mother of go-"</strong></p>
<p>Jackson and Forest would then hear the unmistakable sound of vulcan cannons and missles firing from that thing, as every mutant there was chunkified and every building was first swiss cheese barely holding together...and then blown up by the missles.  The radio tower collapsed soon after.  But then, when it happened-</p>
<p><strong><em>"HEY!!"</em></strong></p>
<p>-there was a Super Mutant Behemoth up north enough, as it had been closer to the two ghouls' position looking for molerat to eat, to see the exchange.  It ran up the hill in lumbering steps and rammed that standing building with its shoulder, knocking ever piece of it out of alignment and revealing the thing underneath.  Every piece of the building had been held in place by what looked like a mechanical tendril using an adhesive substance to stick to surfaces and hold everything together to give it cover.  Now that it was gone...</p>
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<p>The MGB<span id='spoiler_88e5ed7b969cfb57ade1464ac9efee9c' style='display:none'>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</span></div></p>
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<p>The machine took a step back to steady itself and assess its target, which was a big angry giant which was punching at it.  The pivoting base turned and the MGB returned the punch to its stomach, before turning its base again to palm-strike the Behemoth in the face.  The big mutant lurched from the impacts, faltering back...then it gripped the fallen radio tower and slammed it into the machine, knocking it off-balance for a moment as the old rusty tower broke in half.  No matter.  It just raised the ramining tower to strike at it again...and that's where the advantage was lost.  The MGB's targeting scanner gave it a list of viable moves and acted on them simultaneously.  Two missles intercepted the tower while the machine's hands reached out and broke both of the Behemoth's wrists in a cold mechanical grip while it received the equivalent of a kneecapping via the vulcans.  The Behemoth let out a scream as it was suddenly on its knees and unable to pull away now.  Its captor hesitated for a few ghastly seconds...before firing a short gun burst into the mutant's face and unceremoniously dumping it on the ground.  Thereby, it did a scan both visually and by radar, determining whether there were other immediate hostiles or targets that it had been specifically told to look for.  It had only one official target left, and it did not find it, so out came the mecha-tendrils to pick up the damaged building pieces and hastily assemble the rough estimation of a building around itself, which it sat down in to look like it was another ruined hulk in the wasteland, awaiting further orders.</p>
<p>Well, now what, you two?</p>

Forest paused for a moment, looking to his friend and whispering, "I think you and I are over are heads, and we need to high tail it out of here. No stopping to loot what's left of the mutants, no sticking around that... thing. If we had enough mini-nukes I'd want to blow that thing back to the Great War, lacking that, let's just go."Hefting his rifle and keeping an eye out for any surviving mutants, he hoped to high hell that nothing was left that'd provoke it, or assault them.

Jackson stared blankly at the thing, glad he didn't let forest shoot it. He snapped out of it as his friend started speaking, and was quick to agree with him, except."The jeep makes a lot of noise, and I don't want to attract attention, specially from that fucking thing." He wondered if Bandits would try to investigate the noise. Probably, they weren't that bright."Might as well sleep in the jeep, it's already pretty well camo-ed." Jackson started walking back, putting his rifle on his back.

Despite the fact that Barry had rather extreme endurance when it came to running, mainly because it was the only way he traveled, he was beginning to succumb to exhaustion. He had been traveling for miles and miles with extremely restricted movement and he was weighed down by all of the poorly placed medical equipment that covered his body in layer upon layer. It was a warm day and the various things covering his body were not helping. He felt like he was burning alive. A sensation he experienced for real when fighting those eels. He collapsed on the ground not too far from the vault he had been trying to get to. He drifted into the world of sleep for the first time in a couple of days.

A middle aged man with partial graying looked at him. "Come on. We aren't much farther from town. We will be able to unload all this junk off of poor Bessie. And hopefully make a tidy profit," the man said patting him on the shoulder.

"Alright. Hopefully they got some Nuka Cola up there. Haven't had one since we passed through that little place back in North Carolina," Barry replied walking forward with him.

The man pondered for a moment, "I was going to save this for your birthday, but its only a few days early." He reached into the pack on the back of good old Bessie. He pulled out a glowing bottle.

Barry looked at it awestruck, "A Nuka Cola Quantum? Wha...how...where did you get that?"

The man replied, "Just happened by it when we were scavenging in that school a couple weeks back."

Barry replied, "I can't take this from you."

"You have been doing great work here. You're the one who found that collection of cigars. I would have walked right past the cellar, but you spotted it. You know how much money we are going to make off of that when we can get to a higher end town? I owe you."

Barry took it gently out of the man's hands, "Thank you. I can't drink this. I'll just keep it with me. A lucky charm or something. I mean what are the odds that you just found this unscavenged? Astronomical." Suddenly a gunshot rang through the air.

A man in metal armor stepped from around a destroyed building. He was soon followed by a dozen others with a variety of common raider armors. Painspike, Blastermaster, Sadist, the works. The one in metal armor had an anarchy symbol painted across the front. He had a .44 Magnum in his hand while the other carried a knives, bats, and sledgehammers. He was obviously the leader of this group. He spoke in a gravely voice, "You can lay down your weapons, drop to your knees, and put your hands over your heads and I promise you that I will make your deaths quick and mostly painless. If you mess with me I will make sure your deaths are far less kind. You got ten seconds."

The middle aged man turned to Barry and whispered, "How do you want to play this?"

Barry replied, "If I'm going to go out, I might as well go out swinging."

"Good man," he replied slipping his hand into his bag. Quickly he pulled his had out, revealing a grenade. He through it full force.

"GRENADE!" The lead raider yelled running out of the way and ducking behind a car for cover. Ten raiders ran in every direction. Two with unfortunately slow reaction time failed to move. The grenade exploded about a foot above the ground two and a half feet ahead of them. Limbs and gibs flew in every direction. The surviving ten low ranking raiders came to a stop. Before charging Barry and the man. The man tossed a bladed gauntlet at Barry. He caught it and placed it on his arm. The quickest raider, who was holding a switchblade, got within striking distance of Barry. This was a mistake. The Raider swung wildly, and Barry dodged each of the five slices. Then the raider took one last big swing. Barry blocked the raider's blade using his own. He gave the raider a big left hook with his free hand. The raider fell to his knees. Barry quickly drove his blade forward penetrating the savage's eye and ramming it straight into his brain. Blood poured out of the eye socket. Barry pressed his boot into the man's chest and pushed it while pulling out his arm. The raider slumped to the ground.

The man who gave him the Quantum pulled a Chinese Assault rifle out of his bag. He opened fire. A raider took half a clip to the center of mass and was launched backward from the force of the gun and landed on his back. The other half of the clip went into the chest and neck of another before the last shot went high and tore through the Painspike clad man's head which then proceeded to burst into a cloud of bone fragments and human flesh. Four raiders came at once to Barry. One came with the powerful but incredibly slow sledgehammer. Barry ducked it effortlessly before ramming his blade into the man's throat. But while handling him he took a hard baseball bat swing to the spine. When he turned he took a second blow, this time to the head. He fell to his knees in a partial daze. But, not before slamming his blade into the leg of the bat wielding raider.

The blade went right through the Artery causing the raider to pass out from blood loss in seconds. He would be dead not too long after that. Barry took repeated blows from another Babe Ruth wannabe. The only thing keeping him from a broken back was the leather armor. The Quantum man noticed Barry's predicament and fired a shot at the swinging raider. It went into his shoulder and caused him to fall straight to the ground on his back.

Barry, aching everywhere, got up, climbed on top of him and pressed the side of his blade against the raider's throat. Barry looked him in the eyes and slit it. The fourth raider had turned around to go after the middle aged man think that his friends had Barry covered. Barry walked behind him and wrapped his hands around the sides of the raider's head. He jerked the man's head around snapping his neck. He laid dead with a expression of surprise and fear across his face. The metal armor clad head raider delivered the shot he had been lining up with his .44 Magnum. The middle aged man collapsed with a bullet through his elbow. The surviving raiders swarmed Barry and savagely beat him with bats and sledges while others stabbed him mercilessly. "ENOUGH!" The lead raider yelled, "Don't let him die this easily. They killed so many of us and we will not take that laying down will we?"

The raiders yelled, "NO!"

"I didn't think so. Now tie the old one to the Brahmin. Just carry the young one." It was at this point that Barry blacked out from the pain.

When his eyes opened it was night, he was tied to a chair and the man was in front of him tied to old Bessie. The bandit leader walked towards Barry. "Glad to see you're awake friend. You almost missed the show," He said stepping behind Barry and laying his hands on Barry's shoulders. "Let's start this party!" He yelled to his men. Barry saw the massive clan raiders that this bandit was the leader of. The dozen from earlier was just a small part of the greater whole. A raider poured lighter fluid all over the middle aged man.

Barry shut his mouth tight and nodded. "Im afraid your not going to have much of a choice," the raider said with a smile. "Start it up."

"Yes, sir" a Sadist Armor clad raider said flicking on a lighter. The flame was small, but in the darkness it shined brightly. He dropped it and the father burst into flames. His fleshed seared in the blazing inferno. He screamed in unimaginable agony. The Brahmin cried out, also. Their desperate pain filled screams joined together making a horrific noise of indescribable suffering. Barry cried out, "DAD! NOOO!" His father's flesh turned black and began to drip off of his body. Barry screamed, "PLEASE DAD! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

With his last intelligible sentence his father said, "You...don't...need me...son" Barry watched his father burn for minutes that felt like centuries. His fathers eyes melted out of his skull and his tongue blackened and shriveled up. Dawn came and Barry sat in the chair unable to create anymore tears. He wished that they had just killed him.

The lead raider cut him loose, "Spread the word, kid. Don't mess with the Inferno Gang." He kicked the chair over knocking Barry to the ground. Barry just laid there without making a single noise. The raiders packed up and left, but Barry just laid there. Barry awoke with tears running down his cheeks. He thought to himself,"I...I...couldn't save him." He laid there until he got a hold of himself. "It seemed so real...Maybe it was?"

"Phew! That was a close one... Ma'am, two of the bastards seem to have a bunch of Mini-Nukes that they're throwing like grenades. The lead bastard's wearing car parts for armor, wielding a big fucking hammer and riding a giant horse!"[Repair 100/60][Success!]Frank had worked on enough Fat Men to know that wearing a bandoleer of mini-nukes was a monumentally stupid idea. Mini-nukes were very sensitive, and any significant impact could set them off. That's why Fat Men used a pneumatic launching mechanism. A single shot to one of those nukes with a laser, plasma, electrical, or Gauss weapon would set off a very nice fireworks display. Of course, the one on the horse (Of course!) would require some creative thinking.[Tactics 60/50][Success!]Frank was a pretty creative thinker."Elder Sugar-tits, I can stop them. I'll need some flamer fuel, one of the Vertibirds we took from the Enclave's last show, I'll need Paladin Gilford piloting it, and Swordfish and Mattie need to come along. If we can get Danny-Boy, I could use her in there as well, but I doubt she's back."Frank mentally ran over various ways this scenario could play out.[Flashback]"Now remember Frank, even if you think your plan is foolproof, plan for it failing.""But Grandpa, if a plan is foolproof, that's unnecessary!""Frank, A plan that doesn't plan for plans outside of the plan is not much of a plan at all.""I'm sorry, what?""It means that if your plan isn't taking into account every single little possibility, such as the plans of others, your plan can not be said to be very good.""Well why didn't you just say that!?""Because it doesn't sound as cool silly!"[/Flashback]"Everyone else had best entrench and form a firing line in the unlikely event that I fail."

Dan dived behind a pile of broken concrete as the spider sentry bots advanced on his location, their rapid fire forcing him to keep his head down as he crouched behind the concrete and gripped his hammer with both hands. When he saw the first claw advance over the rubble Dan swung upward with all his might, knocking a sentry bot off backwards, wobbling on its back two legs. Reversing his swing, Dan brought his hammer down on the other bot's gun, smashing it due to its heated state from firing. The first bot regained its balance and jumped at Dan, wrapping its legs around him, clamping his arms to his side.

Dan dropped his hammer as he struggled to force the bot off him when a plasma shot glassed the ground next to him. Dan staggered out of the open and in between two buildings to avoid the open. Finally he managed to pull his arms free, grabbed the spider bot by its head and pulled it off his body. He slammed the mechanical spider against a wall, grabbed one of its legs with both hands and smashed it viciously against the ground. When the other bot came around the corner Dan threw the now broken spider bot at the working one, knocking it backwards with the other bot lying on top of it, pinning it down. "Spiders are bad enough. But giant robot, gun wielding ones, whose bright idea was that. Give me a Deathclaw any day. I hate spiders," Dan spat at the spider bots when a shot in his back sent him stumbling forward. Dan turned around as fast as he could to see an Enclave solider, standing there with a smoking barrel.

"That hurt Bug face. I mean what kind of person shoots someone when their back is turned. And not kill them!" Dan yelled as he charged at the solider who was stunned at the sight of a three hundred pound, nearly seven foot tall man charging at him, full force. Before he could fire another shot, Dan was on top of him, bringing him to the ground. Dan ripped off the soldier's helmet and punched him as hard he could. Dan grabbed the man's head and slammed it against the ground, knocking him unconscious, As Dan stoop up to deliver the killing blow he felt a muzzle being pressed against the back of his head.

"Turn around slowly and don't try anything. We aren't above blowing your head off," a muffled voice commanded. Dan, obeyed his hands in the air.

"Does it really matter if I say I say surrender at this point," Dan saw two Enclave soldiers in front of him and another one standing on the rooftop, all three with guns pointed at him.

"Um. Take me to your lead..."attempted to say when one of the Enclave soldiers hit him in the head with the butt of his gun.

Lucy finally received her audience with the Elder, the information received during this time, however, was not what she expected.

Sarah Lyons was an imposing woman that positively emanated dominance (And Frank was doing the horizontal mambo with her at some point!?)

"He had worked with my father for a time, enough that he might've been considered one of us..."

My father was basically an unofficial member of the Brotherhood? Yet his own daughter is currently an asset to the Enclave.

Lucy felt disgusted at herself, angry at her father, frustrated that the answers she received actually raised more questions, but most of all, she felt...guilty.

"That rifle was examined and determined to be relatively new. It couldn't be more than a few years old, if that."

Enclave

That was the dominant suggestion in her mind. With regards to manufacture and trading, you could find pre-war tech from local arms dealers, anything new is produced by those with the proper training and tools. Which meant Brotherhood or Enclave.

Great. Enclave asset, title and what most likely appears to be an Enclave weapon.She wondered when she's getting the standard black power armor in the mail.

She had remained silent the entire time, not out of respect, but more out of visible shock and guilt. She was sure Frank would pick up on it. She listened to their mission briefing. It sounded like a suicide mission to the average person, but for her it's exactly what she needed.

On a personal level, she could alleviate her guilt by helping the Brotherhood properly, she could continue Vikki's fight and she had cheated death twice. She was meant to die a long time ago, marching towards her death again seemed like she was doing the wasteland a favor. She may as well do something good with her life.

Her fatalistic thoughts put her in a dark place emotionally.

Time to talk

"Why wasn't anything said to me!? I've been stumbling in the dark looking for bullshit answers and no-one approached me! You knew!" Lucy had no intention to get angry, but her emotions had gotten the better of her "You could have sent someone or even a damn message!"

She took a step towards the Elder "I'm even doubting the man my Father really was, but he was obviously significant to you lot! So you tell me why nobody here gave a flying fuck about me or the atta-...!"

Lucy was cut off by the disturbing transmission and subsequent alarm that followed.Her anger had been pushed aside, but her dark mood lingered.

She turned to Frank "Frank, the mutant with the mini-nukes. I can make a big mess if you let me take a shot at it." she paused for a moment, analyzing the situation "If they're positioned close together, my attack could cause some nice splash damage"

Finally, she faced the Elder and spoke "I'm sorry, I just-...This is all news to me. I'll..I'll help however I can." she wasn't sure if she was heard or not, she hoped so, especially for her next line:

"Oooh, you think so? Let's go meet them!" Said the man, hurrying towards the trio, quite a fast mover. This made Wayne feel very conscious about his limp, causing his mind to feel the pain. Holy sh*t, here we go with the pain!! he grimaced as the man turned to talk to him once more "Come on, then! People to meet, things to do!"

'I bet you just shit rainbows and piss nuka cola don't you?' He said under his breath.

He realised he had lost focus as he began approaching the three when he saw the nasty end of 3 weapons pointed at him, stopping him in his tracks, at least now he was close enough to hear the three stooges clearly.

"Hey, smoothskin. You don't wanna get between this guy and the Nuka-Cola. He's like a junky with that stuff, and you know what junkies are like when they haven't got any. A little twitchy."

Just as Wayne was about to reply, with something hopefully intimidating and possilby offensive to the ghoul, the three began to bicker, these guys were obviously noreal threat, but still, anybody with a gun shouldn't be messed with, that said Wayne wouldn't lower his weapon, if he was going down, it wasn't without a fight.

'Listen guys, my new friend here wants to know why you guys were following him at a distance, one of you looking for a date or something?'

He grinned, hoping he had sounded as funny as he thought he did. It felt strange to grin, someone could've mistook this for a smile, and that was most definitely not something he did often. FOCUS! Maybe the pain was what kept making his mind wander, he hadn't noticed the young lady change her gaze somewhere high behind him, keeping his gun trained oin the ghoul, he turned and glanced, just about making out two figures watching the group argument...

Maybe it's time to lower the weapon Wayne, Lowering his rifle he turned his full body, hoping the guy with what appeared to be a scoped weapon, judging by the light reflecting from the front, would get the picture that he wasn't going to cause any trouble... yet...

Marlon smiled. "Suits me perfectly m'am. And believe you me, I got a bucket of ideas for that sort of thing to run past you later on." He turned to look as Lucy and Frank entered the room, a small smile playing around the corners of his mouth now that things seemed to be looking up. There were a whole bunch of ways he could screw over raiders and still make cash. Not to mention those outcast goons...Oh this was going to be a very profitable venture.

He couldn't see Frank's face, but he liked to think it was at least displaying an annoyed expression that Marlon wasn't to be executed on the spot. He was however, more interested in the information surrounding Lucy for the time being. Her old man...Enclave maybe? That might be worth remembering for later...

And then the alarm. At least behemoths were stupid as hell. Carrying a bunch of mini nukes? Oh this'd be cake. All you'd have to do is land a good solid hit on one of them to set them all off. It sounded like Frank was planning to do something that Marlon would be more impressed if he didn't add the last part about his almost certain success. If not for the fact that, you know, Behemoths were approaching, Marlon'd be more inclined to amuse himself with the notion of Frank failing if only to see his confidence catch up with him.

Amusements later though. Right now there were (literally) bigger problems to deal with.

He smiled at Lucy. "What say we go vent all that anger of yours at the dummies with the bombs." He retrieved his belongings from the bench where they'd been placed while he was in the cell and loaded up the laser rifle. "I could go for a little bit of mutilated mutie."

"What say we go vent all that anger of yours at the dummies with the bombs."

Marlon's remark had refocused her thoughts somewhat, so with a heavy sigh and a small tired smile, she walked over to help him with his belongings.

That's what it looked like, at least.

Handing him his laser rifle, she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"I'm sorry. When we met I was cozying up to you because I hoped you had info on my dad. After I was hurt, I started to like you for realzies. I can't judge you if I don't even know what kind of person my Dad really was" she paused so that the weight of her sincerity would be noticed "My future is still unclear and there's still a lot of shit I have to deal with, but after this fight, I want to know if I have a shot at normal someday."

She crossed her arms and smiled at him, feeling a little better.

"I haven't forgotten my promise to help you out with your new ride and setting up shop. If you'll have me."

Lucy playfully fist-bumping his arm.

She started to prime her rifle, which made quite a few nearby heads turn. "Chill. Sheesh."

Turning to everybody else, but mainly looking at Frank, "I'm ready, just point me in the right direction"

Frank didn't wait for Elder Lyons to approve his plan. He knew her. She would say yes to one of Frank's crazy schemes."Everyone meet up in the courtyard for pickup! Let's move."Frank rushed out the door, stopping only to give Lucy and Elder Lyons a quick slap on the butt. Being back home was bringing out some of Frank's old tendencies.Frank rushed down to his old lab to pick up some Flamer Fuel, and three mysterious packages. (You'll see)Frank then rushed back to the courtyard, stopping only to plug in his Flamer Fuel, and to slap a foxy looking scribe on the butt."Let's do this."

'Any idea what's going on?' the man with the pretty eyes asked. Stanley grinned. "Nope!" He studied the trio for a moment. The woman looked dangerous. The ghoul looked... Well, like a ghoul. The man looked friendly enough, though.

"So you three are headed to the Nuka plant? Neat! So are we!" Stanley interrupted them. "Er... I am. I don't know about my friend here. He's chasing ghosts, I think. Dangerous ghosts, even more. Anyways." Stanley clapped his hands together. "It's decided, then. You four put away your weapons, and we all go to the-"

Stanley noticed the other man looking behind them, something up in the air. He turned, and traced the other's line of sight. He didn't see anything. He shrugged, and turned back around."Erm. Anyways. We all go to the plant together, and go our separate ways from there. How's that sound?" Stanley grinned around the group. "Good. Settled then. Off we go!"

Stanley turned back around and headed for the plant. The others could follow, or not, as they would.

The light of a new dawn rose over the camp belonging to William, Dudley and (Evan) Ramsey. Yet it was already empty, the three had already left. Ramsey had alerted them to the possibility of toxic rain. Neither William nor Dudley had any wish to be caught in it, though Dudley did think Ramsey was saying it to speed up the journey.

The three of them had instead set off into the dark, towards their goal. Another day of this speed and they could be almost there. With three pairs of eyes potential dangers could be spotted and avoided. It became a matter of point scoring between the three with Ramsey coming out on top. Though William and Dudley both agreed he cheated by insisting on riding ahead.

They passed several travellers on the road and stopped to talk to some of the larger caravans. They provided details of vertibirds watching their movement on certain parts of the road and a weapons merchant told the story of how his friend had been stopped by power armoured soldiers who searched his possessions. Though William had thought the man was on something and decided not to believe everything he said.

Barry was physically and emotionally worn as he laid in the dirt. He pondered the events of the dream. But, before he made any significant headway a tall man in strange clothing aproached him. The man greeted him and talked and talked and talked. Barry wasn't exactly in a state to deal with this at the moment so he merely remained silent and laid there absorbing only parts of what the undertaker said. The undertaker then dragged him to his bike and sat him on the front of it. Out of pure puzzlement he started to really listen to the man so he could figure out what was going to be done to him. Barry thought to himself"Why is he calling me Mumford? Nice name, but not mine. Wait, he seriously wants to bury me? Maybe I should let him. For the last few days I have been sleep deprived, beaten, stabbed, crushed, ran over, set on fire, and abandoned by I man who I thought was going to be my friend and part of the super team I always dreamed of making.I don't know if I can take anymore of this. I may just be at the end of my rope." So he merely sat there for the fairly long bike ride taking in all the burial types. The bike stopped. "Wait what am I considering? Giving up bringing justice to the wasteland? Just because I had a really vivid nightmare? I'm sure it didn't mean anything. How could I not remember something like that. My brain probably just made it up because I caught fire earlier and my sub-conscious held onto that and turned it into a nightmare. I'm just being silly. Though I should probably stop this guy who is trying to bury me. "MMMMMMMPPPPPPPHHHHHHH!" Barry yelled hoping that the man would pull the bandages off of atleast his mouth.